Valve has region-locked all games bought through the Russion Steam storefront.
This move aims to protect game publishers from the effect of the rapid drop I value of the Russian Ruble. Thanks to the unusual devaluation, games that cost $40 or $60 in the US storefront can be had for a few bucks through the Russian one after factoring in exchange rate.
To our knowledge, this is the first time geo-locking is applied to PC games and this is causing an uproar among PC gamers who are not as used to such restrictions as their console kin. There are also reports that the locking has affected Brazil, Indonesia and their neighboring areas.
December 18, 2014 - 2:02pm
